‘I COULDN’T settle in Italy. It was like living in a foreign country’ – Ian Rush on his spell with Juventus.

Carlos Tevez isn’t the only footballer to suffer from homesickness.

So, too, poor Jelle Van Damme, whose six-month stay at Molineux ended this week after just four league starts.

Mick McCarthy likened him to both Nenad Milijas and Ronald Zubar who took months to settle last season and are now blossoming. Injuries in his first two games against Stoke and then Newcastle didn’t help either.

“He started off okay and got injured and we’ll never know (what might have happened),” mused McCarthy.

“Zubey and Nenad took their time as well. Zubey’s fantastic now and Nenad is playing well.”

McCarthy also mentioned two higher profile footballers now ranked as one and two in the Arsenal list of 50 greats: Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp.

Henry wasn’t the natural replacement for Nicolas Anelka when he arrived in the summer of 1999. He took nine games to open his Arsenal account but Arsene Wenger persevered and transformed Henry from erratic winger into striker extraordinaire.

Likewise, Bergkamp failed to score in his first seven senior outings. Pressure was mounting not least from the tabloid media who had branded the Dutchman ‘Hartle-Fool’ after he failed to score against the minnows in a League Cup tie.

“It took Bergkamp and Henry a season at Arsenal,” added McCarthy. “It’s just unfortunate that for all the reasons I’ve said it hasn’t worked (with Jelle) and it’s better that he’s gone back and it’s sorted.”